The Ebola News Just Gets Scarier

Oct 1, 2014

RUSH: Now, please tell me this isn’t true. According to the Associated Press, the sister of the Ebola patient — and, by the way, the director of the CDC was just out there facing the media, and he said this patient is now critical. That’s not good. This original first reported Ebola patient, guy in Dallas, is critical. Now, according to the Associated Press, this guy’s sister, the sister of the Ebola patient says that he told the doctors on his first trip to the ER that he had just come from Liberia.

Now, Liberia is one of the ground zero nations for the current outbreak of Ebola. This guy’s sister says he told them he had just come from Liberia. Obama just said that wasn’t gonna happen. We had people making sure that people from these African countries weren’t gonna get in here. “We’ve been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in West Africa, to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesn’t get on a plane for the US.” That was the president back on September 16th.

Well, this guy got on a plane. He landed. He went to Dallas. He got sick. He went to the ER. He told them he was from Liberia and they gave him antibiotics and sent him home. Well, Liberia, a lot of cruise ships are registered in Liberia, so who knows what they thought. I don’t know, folks. This is getting really frightening. How do you not know, if you’re in the medical world, that Liberia is ground zero? Somebody comes in and says, “I got the flu and I came from Liberia.” That should have Code Red. They should have gotten the quarantine suits right then and done whatever. Again, it’s the AP, so I don’t want to overreact to this. But they just tweeted this out a couple minutes ago. They just posted this as breaking news.

So now even they, the AP, would do anything to cover for the Regime as having to talk about this guy being sent home even after identifying for doctors that he was from Liberia. Here’s the AP tweet: “Breaking: Sister of US Ebola Patient: He Told Hospital He Was From Liberia on 1st Visit, Was Sent Home.”

Here’s more Ebola news from CNBC. “Governor Rick Perry, Texas, says some school-age children had contact with this Ebola patient and they are being monitored for the disease.” Don’t worry, it’s hard to get, folks. We’re not gonna let people with the disease into the country. We’re working really hard with these West African nations. This on the heels of our allies, the Iraqis, dropping ammunition and food to ISIS. This is on the heels of six people getting through Secret Service security into the White House and nearly up to the residence on the second floor.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We have more Ebola news from the New York Times. Quote: “Dallas County officials said today they believe that this patient,” now critical, suffering from Ebola, “has come into contact with 12 to 18 people when he was experiencing symptoms,” and some of them are children. Now, I read last night in prepping for this that the most contagious period — when a patient is most contagious — is when the symptoms are paramountly, manifestly obvious, with skin lesions and sores and this kind of thing. Not that that’s the only time. That’s when the patient is the most highly contagious.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Rick Perry this afternoon in Dallas, Texas, held a press at Health Presbyterian Hospital conference to talk about the Dallas Ebola patient. Here’s just a portion of his remarks…

PERRY: Today we learned that some school-age children have been identified as having had contact with the patient and are now being monitored at home for any signs of the disease. I know that parents are extremely concerned about that development, but let me assure: These children have been identified, and they are being monitored, and the disease cannot be transmitted before having any symptoms. I have full confidence in the medical professionals and Superintendent Miles — and our local and our state and our federal partners — in keeping this contained.

RUSH: Now, that is a key element of this, that it cannot be transmitted before anybody has any symptoms. It is a bodily fluid exchange process. That could be somebody blowing their nose, mucus, anything, but it’s not caused by breathing in and out. That’s not enough. But somebody with Ebola, they can’t transmit it until you’ve obviously seen the symptoms. So you can know to avoid people.

The problem is the early symptoms are the flu. It takes a week or a medical professional with a blood test to identify the virus itself, ’cause the initial symptoms do not show anything unique or different from the flu. So let’s now go to the CDC director. I want to play these two sound bites and see if we have here what apparently happened, because these bites are earlier in the day, and this happened on CNN.

It looks like we may not. Well, we may. Hang on. Let’s just go. This is last night in Atlanta, Dr. Thomas Frieden’s press conference talking about the first case of Ebola virus found, and during the Q&A, New York Times Health and Medicine Reporter Denise Grady said, “Can you tell us if this person is an American citizen? Will you be releasing the flight information, and is it correct to assume he was staying at a home with family members rather than in a hotel?”

FRIEDEN: The patient was visiting family members and staying with family members who live in this country. We will contact anyone who we think has any likelihood of having had an exposure to the individual while they were infectious. At this point, that does not include anyone who might have traveled with him because he was not infectious at that time.

GRADY: I asked if he’s an American citizen.

FRIEDEN: He’s visiting family who live in this country.

RUSH: Now, we have since learned that this guy went to the ER and told ’em he was from Liberia, which did not raise any red flags at the ER — and it certainly should have. Liberia is one of the nations in Africa where the disease is running rampant. So an unidentified reporter asked next, “I’d like to follow up on that. Will you identify the flight information this patient arrived in the country on?”

FRIEDEN: At this point, there is zero risk of transmission on the flight. He was checked for fever before getting on the flight and there’s no reason to think that anyone on the flight that he was on would be at risk. Ebola is a scary disease because of the severity of illness it causes. At the same time, we’re stopping it in its tracks in this country. We can do that because of two things: Strong health care infection control that stops the spread of Ebola and strong core public health functions that trace contacts, track contacts, isolate them if they have any symptoms, and stop the chain of transmission. We’re stopping this in its tracks.

RUSH: (sighs) Well, I hope. We all hope that’s true. But this is another example of just getting up there and saying it and hoping that it’s true, hoping that saying it makes it true. You know, this is not a world governed by the aggressive use of words, the aggressive use of speeches. There are powerful forces out there, and viruses and diseases are two of them, and you don’t stop them with words.

You don’t stop them with good intentions, and you don’t stop ’em with compassion. You don’t stop ’em by caring. You actually have to take steps. Now, the business on the flight: If the guy was not showing symptoms on the flight and nobody knew, then nobody on the flight is at risk. Because according to things I’ve seen, that happens to be true, that there is no ability for the disease to spread (i.e., be contagious) in a patient who is not yet showing symptoms.

But again, we have to define what “showing symptoms” are. This guy was able to get on the plane because he didn’t have a fever. That’s what they’re telling us, and that’s one of the early signals. The doctor did not say this is an American citizen. He wouldn’t confirm that. So he’s obviously not. The guy got on a plane in Liberia.

What are the odds that this guy’s family are not legal citizens and that’s why they’re avoiding answering the question? I mean, this is just normal speculation that anybody with an inquisitive mind would have. They’re asking, “Is he an American citizen?” and you don’t answer it. So you have to infer, if you’re not gonna answer that, he must not be. And then you further ask, “Well, is this guy’s family American citizens?”

Could have said that. Could have quelled a lot of curiosity. So the director of the CDC is bragging about being able to track things, and yet this guy goes to the ER and says, “I’m from Liberia,” and he’s sent home with antibiotics, and now 12 to 18 people have been infected. But we’re really tracking this and we’re stopping it in its tracks. I’m sure the order comes from, “You go out there and you just tell ’em we got it handled. You go out there and you tell ’em it ain’t spreading. You go out there and you tell ’em it’s hard to get, and you just do that. And then when the disease spreads, we’ll blame it on the Republicans somehow.” That’s the way these things work. “Rush, you’re being so cynical.”

No, I’m not being cynical. This is intelligence guided by experience. What isn’t blamed on Republicans? Stupid ass War on Women. What isn’t blamed on Republicans these days? So if this thing spreads, you watch, it’s gonna be because of something Congress didn’t do way back when or because they wouldn’t work with Obama or what have you. I know how this stuff plays out. It only works because of some of these idiot low-information voters we have running around out there that just soak this stuff up like dry sponges.

I wonder if anybody asked this Ebola patient if he had Obamacare? Well, I’m sorry. I mean, it’s a natural question to have, isn’t it? The guy shows up, “Have you logged into HealthCare.gov, Mr. Liberia? Do you have proof of insurance here with Obamacare?” I wonder if he was asked that. “Rush, you’re really, really being cynical.” No, I’m not. This is not cynicism. These are legitimate, intelligent questions guided by experience. We’re told that this kind of thing can’t happen, Obamacare’s gonna clean it all up, stopping it dead in its tracks.

Now, this morning on Fox & Friends Steve Doocy interviewed Thomas Frieden from the Centers for Disease Control. Doocy said, “You say we’ve got CDC people on the ground in West Africa screening people as they get on the airplane. Now, how do they do that? Do they just say, ‘Do you have a fever?’ Do they have some sort of a wand to wave to see if you got a fever?” Do you shove a thermometer in an oral cavity or a bodily cavity? I mean, how do you find out whether they got a fever?

FRIEDEN: Two different processes. One is a questionnaire where a series of questions is asked. And second, there are hand-held thermometers that actually work from a distance. The impulse might be to isolate these countries. If we do that, we’ll actually be increasing our own risk because, really, the simple truth is, by stopping it there and by helping them stop it there, we’re helping ourselves.

RUSH: What? What did he say? That makes absolutely no sense. Wait a second. “The impulse might be to isolate these countries.” But he said that in a disapproving way. If we do that, if we isolate, see, this is this political correctness crap. It’s not fair that they are the ones that have Ebola. It would be unfair and it would be profiling and it would be stigmatizing if we told them that they have more Ebola than anybody else. So we can’t isolate these countries. If we do that, we’ll be increasing our own risk.

How does that happen? How does isolating where it is and keeping it there make it worse for us? How does it increase our risk? It doesn’t. Folks, this is exactly the kind of drivel and nonsense that is being taught and has been for a long time. Play this again. I have to hear this. I don’t even want to read the transcript to you. I just want to hear that transcript, number five, again.

FRIEDEN: Two different processes. One is a questionnaire where a series of questions is asked. And second, there are hand-held thermometers —

RUSH: Wait a minute, stop the tape. That one went by me ’cause I got focused on the, “Do you have a fever?”

“No man, no fever.”

“Okay, fine, there’s the plane. Watch your step.”

Are you kidding me? I need to ask because I don’t know. Does anybody know of a thermometer that you can wave around that tells you whether people nearby have a fever? Have you heard of that? (interruption) You’ve heard of that? What, a stun gun type of thing? (interruption) Laser gun. You point the laser? Okay, fine. Oh, you don’t know how accurate it is. So got a stun gun, a laser, we laser ’em and it tells ’em — okay. All right, play the whole thing from the top again. I’m sorry, folks.

FRIEDEN: Two different processes. One is a questionnaire where a series of questions is asked. And second, there are hand-held thermometers that actually work from a distance. The impulse might be to isolate these countries. If we do that, we’ll actually be increasing our own risk because, really, the simple truth is, by stopping it there and by helping them stop it there, we’re helping ourselves.

RUSH: Didn’t he just blatantly contradict himself here? You know, when I start questioning my own common sense, that’s when I know it’s bad, ’cause I have plenty of it. But he just says the impulse might be to isolate these countries. That would be bad. If we do that, we’ll be increasing our own risk, okay? How is that? How is isolating countries where it is and keeping it there put us at greater risk? But then after saying that he goes on to sound like he’s advocating isolating. No, no. No. “The impulse might be to isolate these countries. If we do that we’re gonna be making it worse for ourselves. The simple truth is by stopping it there and by helping them stop it there, we’re helping ourselves.” Well, isn’t that isolating it there? My friends, I am really worried.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay. So you are in Liberia, and you are about to get on an airplane to get out of the country because Ebola is running rampant and all of a sudden here comes some Americans, and they start asking you questions. “Do you have Ebola?”

“Oh, no, no, me? No way.”

“Do you have a fever?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got a fever. Yeah. I don’t think I should get on that plane. You know what? I actually think I might have Ebola.”

“Thank you for being honest. You’re off the plane.”

Do you think they’re gonna admit it in their questionnaire? I’ve got this from Twitchy: “Watch CDC director deny then admit that Ebola can be spread by casual contact — How bad was CDC director Dr. Thomas FriedenÂ’s appearance on CNN this morning? It was this bad. Here’s a partial transcript. Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director [standing right next to CNN’s Sanjay Gupta]: ‘Well actually, Sanjay and I, if one of us had Ebola, the other would not be a contact right now. Because weÂ’re not in contact. Just talking to someone is not a way to get infected. ItÂ’s not like the flu, not like the common cold. It requires direct physical contact,'” and I’m not contacting Sanjay right now.

“CNN host Michaela Pereira: But if he sneezes on you, itÂ’s a different story. Sanjay Gupta: ‘I think thereÂ’s a utility here because weÂ’re having this conversation but I am within 3 feet of you. WouldnÂ’t I be considered a higher risk? My understanding reading your guidelines, sir, is that within 3 feet or direct contact — if I were to shake your hand, for example — would both qualify as being contact.’

“Frieden: ‘We look at each situation individually and we assess it based on how sick the individual is and what the nature of the contact is. And certainly if youÂ’re within 3 feet, thatÂ’s a situation weÂ’d want to be concerned about. But in this case, where we havenÂ’t hugged — we havenÂ’t shaken hands — we have not had any contact that would allow either of our body fluids to be in contact with the other person.

“Gupta: ‘So, to MichaelaÂ’s point, the reason we talk about coughing and sneezing not being a concern — if you were to have coughed on me — youÂ’re saying that would not be of concern?

“Frieden: ‘We would look at that situation very closelyÂ…'”

This guy, folks, I’m telling you, this administration is populated with a bunch of people that have been poisoned with political correctness, the guilt that is associated with it, the belief that everybody in the world’s a victim of the United States and our oppression and what have you.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: No, folks, I didn’t miss it. I just ran out of time. I thought I had an additional minute in the last programming segment ’cause my clock is off. I’m not aimed at it right.

But what we heard from the CDC director in that transcript I just read to you from CNN this morning, is he said that you have to be in “direct contact” with somebody to get Ebola, and guess what? Being within three feet of somebody is direct contact! So he denies and then admits that Ebola could be spread by casual contact.

If you’re three-feet away from somebody and you can get what they’ve got, that’s casual. That isn’t direct. So Ebola is far less contagious than the flu or the cold, and there’s no reason to worry — chuckle, chuckle — unless you’re in direct physical contact with somebody who has it. On the other hand he said, “If you’re within three feet of someone who has it, that’s a situation we would want to be concerned about.”

As Dr. Sanjay Gupta noted, “CDC itself states that being within approximately three feet of an Ebola patient or shaking his or her hand entails some risk.”

So in the first part of the interview (summarized), “Oh, no, no, no, no! I’m standing within three feet of Sanjay. We haven’t hugged. We haven’t shaken hands. Everything’s cool.”

Sanjay said, “Wait a minute, but I’m three feet from you. What if I sneeze? What if I…?”

“Well, we would be very concerned about that.”

Look, the last thing that I’m trying to do here is create unwarranted concern, but my gosh! It doesn’t seem to matter where we turn in this administration. The people they have speak from Marie Harf to John Kerry to Jen Psaki to Josh Earnest, to what’s-his-face, Jay Carney, to the president himself, to Biden? My God, a walking gaffe machine! Now this guy at the CDC, and with the… (interruption)

Well, this Liberian guy that they sent home from ER, do we have to now find everybody he’s been within three feet of?